One of the most belovedSuper MarioRPGs has now made it to the Nintendo Switch.Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Dooris back, giving many players the chance to work their way to becoming a fighting ring champion, reclaim Mario’s identity from a trickster ghoul, sneak into a new enemy’s secret base of operations, and more. There are all sorts of places to explore and unique people to meet inPaper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, and one character in particular was finally given a proper chance to shine with the Switch version’s updated dialogue.
This is none other thanvillain-turned-party-member Vivian, one of The Three Shadows who was known for how almost every version of her storyline dealt with the fact that she was a trans woman; all but in the English translation. Much to the surprise of fans, Nintendo allowed this aspect of Vivian’s character to be restored in the Switch remake, and it’s a great step forward for the company’s LGBT representation that begs the question of what’s next.
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door’s Vivian Should Be the Start of Nintendo Respecting Its Other LGBT Characters
How Vivian is Treated With Simplicity and Respect Overall in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
Introduced in Chapter 2 ofTTYD, Vivian is first seen interacting with her sisters in a way that she describes as bullying, but the behavior would eventually lead her to leave The Three Shadows andjoin the player after Chapter Four ofPaper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. Overall, Vivian is bullied because she’s figured out she’s trans, among other things, and this fact is only one piece of her part of the story, but an important one in terms of tone.
Vivian is simply allowed to be trans, which resonates strongly in her story about finding people who treat her with respect compared to her family.
Vivian’s identity is explicitly made clear through things like enjoying being called feminine terms and saying figuring herself out took time, unlike like thegender subtext commonly found in other Nintendo games. At the same time, this aspect of her character is only mentioned a handful of times, with her storyline focusing more on the fact that, although she was treated poorly due to her identity, it’s only the biggest reason out of many. Vivian is simply allowed to be trans, which resonates strongly in her story about finding people who treat her with respect compared to her family.
The Way Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door Treats Vivian Should Reflect on Other Nintendo Characters Going Forward
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Doorhandles Vivian’s trans identity with both care and honesty, and it could very much serve as an important lesson in regard to other translations and localizations. For instance,Birdo has been a longstanding trans characterinMariolore, and yet she was misgendered recently inSuper Mario Party’s UK translation. Birdo has gotten the short end of the stick with her identity for years, so a change is very much overdue.
In fact, Birdo was the victim of the same outdated language about trans people that Vivian suffered from, as well as the same idea of sweeping her identity under the rug and letting Birdo be vaguely referred to as just a girl for a while. At the very least, most recent games and appearances do have her seen as a woman, but there is room for her identity to be more explicitly stated andmore defined inMariolorethanks to Vivian.
Of course, that’s not to take away the incredible achievement that is Vivian’s storyline being restored. The sheer fact that Vivian is allowed to have her gender identity play a role in her story after 20 years, even going as far as having the Japanese version correct its outdated speech on the matter, is most certainly worth celebrating. Even though her identity only takes up a fraction of her dialogue, it means a lot to her character and people like her who have always hoped to see the conversation around her change in such a positive direction.
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (2024)
WHERE TO PLAY
Join Mario and friends on an epic paper adventure: A classic story unfolds on the Nintendo Switch system.Collect the Crystal Stars before the bad guys do: The X-Nauts are after the treasure behind the Thousand-Year Door! With a map from Princess Peach—and the help of a few locals—Mario must journey through a colorful world made of paper to find it first.Surprises abound in this deep and engaging tale, where everyone’s got something to say and it’s often not what you’d expect! Here are just a few of the colorful characters you’ll encounter along the way.Master your badges and timing-based attacks to impress the audience in a theatrical twist on turn-based RPG combat. Make use of all the abilities that come with being cursed—er, conveniently made of paper—like folding into a plane to cross big gaps or turning sideways to slip through narrow openings.
